


Afterdeath

by tawnyHero



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: 18+ characters depicted, AkuRoku - Freeform, Axel is like 20/21 and Roxas is like 19/20 don't @ me, Background Relationships, Character tags will be added when they appear but this is definitely an Akuroku fic, Death to Life, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, She's a total wingman too lmao, What the fuck do I even tag this as lmao, Xion owns a lil cafe place and she's cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-11-08 06:58:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17976554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tawnyHero/pseuds/tawnyHero
Summary: Axel is dead. He knows this. But he has a chance to live again. It isn't exactly easy when no one can see you until the sun sets. How is he supposed to swoon anyone like this?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello, I've had this au in the works for years hah...  
> Uh... be patient with me between chapters and all that okay?  
> Here's one crusty fire boi for you to look at [by me :0](https://twitter.com/tawny_hero/status/1101928934831206402?s=09)

It started with the roar of fire and heat. That was the only thing he could remember when he was alive. He could remember flames lick at his skin as he ran through a burning building, desperate to get out and _live!_  
But it obviously wasn't the case here. Because the next thing he knew, he was remembered with a slab of stone stuck in the ground and his name slapped right in the middle of it.  
Now he was here. Wandering. For six years he's been floating around, trying to become human again. He wasn't quite a ghost. But to the living he mind as well be. Once the sun sets he gains a tangible form, being seen and heard by everyone. But as soon as its light again he’s just as invisible and dead as any other ghost.  
He couldn't explain it though… as soon as he realized he was able to interact with the living at night only one thing was in his mind.  
Find someone to kiss him.  
It was out of some stupid fairytale but he _knew_ that he just needed someone to kiss him to bring him back to the land of the living. Axel didn't believe in fairytales and ‘true love's kiss’ but what else could he chalk it up as? At least he had something to call it. But something else was gnawing at the back of his mind. He needed the kiss to happen before he faded away for good. He decided to give himself at least an estimate of ten years before he officially died for good.

Getting his ‘true love’ wasn't going to be easy. Axel was not exactly some Casanova. He was never any good at trying to romance women in general. The fact that it was already ten at night and pitch dark with signs of a storm brewing wasn't helping him either. The streetlights barely did anything to illuminate the sidewalks as they flickered. No one wanted to be out at this time and he knew it.  
Regardless of the storm Axel was out, trying to find someone he could try to swoon. His old sneakers thudded loudly against the cement as he headed into the main part of town, arms hugged close to his body as he shivered. Who knew the dead could still feel? He hated it but at the same time, was kind of thankful for it.  
The night wind blew suddenly, causing leaves to kick up and fly around, some of them attacking his bare arms. Dammit, he wished he had died in a sweatshirt or something with sleeves. He grumbled as the wind slowed for half a second before it picked up again, tossing his long hair around and smacking his face. He groaned and quickly brushed it back behind himself. He paused for a moment to look around before he spotted the building he was looking for just across the street. Axel quickly ran across the road, not bothering to look both ways (its not like he could double die anyways, right?) and enter the late night cafe. 

Axel was quickly welcomed by the warmth of the room and the bitter smell of caffeine. The server behind the counter looked up before she gave her usual smile and nod.  
"Hey. Any luck?" She asked, getting back to wiping down the counters. The redhead settled down into one of the seats in front of her and slumped a little.  
"You already know the answer so why ask, Xi?" He huffed, flashing the woman a slight glare. She completely ignored his look and let out a soft chuckle.  
"Its only ten, you should try a little harder."  
"I've tried for six years. What's gunna change from now and the next four?"  
"You may never know, you might find someone." She rolled her eyes and turned to get his usual coffee.  
"Oh, sure. Like anyone wants to take a walk to the cemetery to look at my grave and realize 'hey, this dude is dead! Am I dating a ghost?! Gross!'"  
Xion rolled her eyes and set the coffee down in front of him. "Give yourself a chance. It might happen. Maybe you just need a different approach.”

Axel sighed and rubbed his cheeks, ignoring the old scars that creeped just over his jawline. He remembered how much they hurt the first few years. Overtime the pain had subsided and he was left with burns all over his body. He wished he could remember what had happened prior to the fire.  
He decided to drop his current thoughts and looked down to the inviting cup of coffee. "Thanks Xi."  
"Yeah, just don't forget to pay me back when you're alive again."  
"If." He corrected, taking the cup and letting it warm his palms before taking a sip. It was bitter. Just how he liked it. “What do you mean by ‘different approach’?”  
His friend hummed as she went to clean up some of the counters. “Well… you've been going after women right? Aren't you Bi?” she paused to let it sink in for a moment. “True love doesn't have to have boobs.”

The loud patter of rain suddenly sounded and the redhead sighed. He knew he would have to walk out in the storm after this.  
"You know Axel, you really should take something from the lost and found." Xion said, setting down the latte in front of the smaller guy beside him.  
"Xi, you already know I'm not gunna do that. They're someone else's clothes." He frowned, looking into his coffee with a slight scowl on his face.  
"Then stay here for the night, I don't want you going out in the rain."  
"I-" A crash of thunder and a bright flash of lightning interrupted Axel and he turned to look out the window. It was pouring out. Just his luck. “Xi, I don't wanna be around when the sun comes up. You know I don't like disappearing in front of people.”  
“And we both know that I have an extra guest room upstairs.” she set the cloth down and looked to him. “I don’t know if you can even get sick but you aren't gunna attract anyone with a runny nose. Go upstairs and get some sleep. I'm making you work tomorrow night to at least work of some of your tab.”  
“I didn't agree to this.” Axel frowned. Xion gave him a small smile.  
“Maybe not but I have to go somewhere tomorrow and my other employee is sick.”  
Axel stared into his mug before sighing and downing what was left of it quickly. “Fine.”  
And with that, he stood up to go through the door behind the counter. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Uh...thanks for sticking around with whatever the hell this is! :T  
> [Have a Xion that I drew!](https://twitter.com/tawny_hero/status/1106731732223561731?s=09)

Axel was woken up to a sudden pillow to his face and a giggling Xion. He let out a groan and pushed the pillow off his face.  
"God, couldn't you wake me up a little nicer or something?" He grumbled. He rubbed his eyes and opened them, sending a glare to Xion's grinning face.  
"Oh come on, you've been asleep for almost twenty hours!"  
"What do you expect, I'm dead. Let me rest in peace dammit." Axel grabbed the pillow and threw it into Xion's face, earning himself a satisfying 'OOF' from her. He snorted before sitting up and stretching.  
Xion rolled her eyes, tossing the pillow haphazardly back on the bed before putting her hands on her hip and tilting her head like the sassy little shit she is. "Your apron is on the hook. I'll be out until later. I promise I won't be too long."  
"Yeah and where the hell are you going anyways?" He asked, getting up and running his fingers through the tangled mess of hair. Ugh, it was greasy…  
"Out. Does it matter?" Xion said. He snorted a little bit at her tiny scowl.  
"You got a date, didn't you?"  
She quickly pushed aside his assumption and headed to the door. "Take a shower you dirty garbage man. I can't have my employees look like shit. Even temporary ones. Once you're clean I'm leaving." With that, she left the room.  
The redhead sighed before getting out if bed and shuffling himself towards the bathroom. It wasn't that glorious of a room but Xion had taken special care to place out some shampoo and conditioner on the sink counter where he could see it as well as folded clothing on the toilet. Axel sighed before stripping and snatching up the two bottles. He tries not to take too long but with this much hair all matted and dirtied up he spent a good chunk of time and the entirety of both bottles just trying to make sure it was completely clean. He'll have to apologize later about that. But as soon as he was done, he felt much better about his pitiful existence.

Axel changed into the clothes left for him and looked at the pile of burnt fabric he used to wear. As much as he hated to admit it, the thick long sleeve shirt and jeans he had on now was much better than the sorry excuse of a t-shirt and shorts he claimed were fine. They weren't fine. Especially during late autumn.  
Axel picked up the tattered mess and his towel and went back to his borrowed room, dumping them on the bed. He turned to the nightstand and took out a brush from the drawer that Xion had gifted him a few years ago. He hated to admit it, but he's been spending more nights in this room to the point where it wasn't a ‘guest room’ anymore. But the two still called it one despite Xion never inviting guests to stay overnight.  
He threw that thought out the window and ran the brush through his hair, grimacing as it snagged constantly. He didn't spend that much time on it, trying to get through it before getting the towel to dry it out more and run the brush through again.  
He wondered who Xion was going to meet. Maybe he could ask her how she managed to impress someone enough to get a date? Maybe- Ah. He shakes his head and sighs, tossing the brush aside and heading down the stairs, plucking the apron off the hook just before entering the cafe.

Xion was there as expected, leaning a wall as she waited, tapping away on her phone with a soft expression on her face. She looked up when she heard the other come in. "Took you long enough. Did you slip?" She snickered, grin plastered on her face. Axel rolled his eyes.  
"No. Thank you for the clothes though." He tied the apron on and crossed his arms. "So who are you meeting up with?"  
Xion waved her hand and pushed off the wall, shaking her head. "That's none of your business, Axel. I'll be back before you need to close so don't worry about needing to do that. You should already know what to do." Xion pocketed her phone.  
"Yeah, just get outta here already, I got a shop to watch while you smooch it up with this mystery date you got." He shooed his friend towards the door. "Take your time, I'll be fine. Just use protection!"  
"Axel, if you weren't already dead I would have committed a crime for that comment."  
"Get! Go enjoy yourself!" With this, Xion finally gave in and left after giving him a wave and leaving. The cafe fell into silence and Axel sighed before turning to flip on the radio.

Music replaced the silence that had quickly filled the room. The redhead hummed along to it and went to work doing whatever he could. Unfortunately for him, Xion was a tidy woman and she didn't leave anything for him to at least clean. That or he just took so long and she got bored of waiting for him. Either way he didn't have anything to do. It really was a graveyard shift. Perfect for him at least.  
He decided he'd make dishes for himself and get to work making his own fix of coffee for the night, almost haphazardly putting grounds into the maker and letting the machine do its thing. He hopped up onto the counter and watched it slowly fill, letting himself zone out for a few minutes.  
He must have zoned out for longer than he intended because he woke with a start to the door bell jingling. He quickly got off the counter, panicking a little bit. Fuck if it was the health inspector he could be fired for- wait, he's dead, he doesn't need to worry about getting fired, ha.

Pushing the stupid thought aside, Axel looks to the door to see who had entered. Its some shorty he's never seen before. The guy couldn't have been older than twenty but the dark circles under his eyes made him seem older. Fair spikes poked from under his hood before they suddenly popped up when he took it off.  
"Welcome to Flaming Brews Bistro, what d'you want?" Axel said, tilting his head and quirking an eyebrow at the guy.  
"Some coffee. Black." He muttered tiredly. Axel nodded and turned to pour him a cup.  
“So, what's a kid like you doing here in the middle of the night like this?” Axel set the cup down and the kid slid a few dollars as payment.  
“College. And some personal matters but Xion isn't here I guess.” he takes the cup and holds it in his hands to warm up. “Where is she anyways?”  
“She's out right now but I'll take a message for her.” Axel turned to pour himself some coffee as well and barely let it cool before sipping at it. A look of surprise crosses his face. “Oh? Sounds more like she's on a date.”  
“More or less.” the redhead responded. “Your message?”  
“Ah fuck. Yeah uh, Sora says he'll be better by tomorrow so-” he trails off, looking to the side before remembering he had coffee and took a fairly generous gulp. He knows Sora too? Small world. Axel just nods and sets his half gone coffee down.  
“Got it. I'll make sure she knows. Though I don't know why Sora didn't just text her…”  
The kid just offers a shrug. 

The radio fills in the quiet between them for a few moments before Axel speaks again. "So you know Xion and Sora?" "Yeah. Sora's my older brother and I've been friends with Xion for a few years." The guy says before bringing the coffee to his lips and taking a careful sip. "Funny. Neither of them mentioned you. And those two can definitely hold a conversation by themselves when they want to."  
The blond nods and sets his cup next to him to look up at Axel. "Yeah, that's for sure. If anything, it probably slipped their minds. I'm pretty sure they would have mentioned a lanky red headed guy filling in their shift." It seemed like the guy was looking him over. And it kind of made him uncomfortable that he was being ogled. Even if the worst of his scars were hidden with sleeves there wasn't much he could do about his neck and cheeks. 

"Right well... I'm Axel."  
"Roxas." The blond held out his hand and Axel took it, giving it a shake before they let go. Its been awhile since he's held anyone's hand, even for a brief handshake. Axel found that Roxas' palm was warm. Definitely full of life. He hoped his own hand didn't feel cold and clammy.  
"Its nice t'meet ya Roxas." Axel hummed, offering the guy a smirk. The other nodded before reaching for his drink and downing the remaining coffee in one go.  
"Yeah, its nice to meet you too. I gotta make another stop but maybe I'll see you later, yeah?" Axel nodded and waved to Roxas as he slipped out of his seat and made his way to the door. The two exchanged quick goodbyes before Roxas slipped out and Axel was left all alone again, watching the other's silhouette go past the window before totally disappearing.  
Axel let his thoughts linger to the exchange he had with Roxas. He found himself wandering back to how warm his hand felt. He wanted to feel that again... to feel the warmth of life flow through him.  
Axel envied Roxas' life. But he found that Roxas made him feel something else.  
Roxas made him feel really _alive_ again.

**Author's Note:**

> Today on this episode of What's in Axel's Mug!  
> Axel: It's just water.   
> Everyone: Oh.


End file.
